Dublin keep Kerry magician David Clifford in his box to pull off possibly their great All-Ireland trick

The night the magic tricks don’t all come off, you hope the room is empty, you hope the world is not watching. But heaven knows the last time David Clifford played an empty dusty hall, the great magicians don’t get the liberty to vanish.

This game is now part of Clifford’s story, an All-Ireland final in which he registered four wides, dropped one short and had another off-target effort called back for a free because of a tug on his jersey.

Clifford was a frustrated, angry footballer sizing up that late effort, there was fury in the shot, hammering his foot through the ball as if trying to shred it apart. On this day, of all days, his genius decided to take some time off. He leathered the size five, drilling it wide of the near post. And while Seán O’Shea popped over the free for the earlier foul, that effort summed up Clifford’s afternoon.

With each of his wides you could sense the anxiety growing within Kerry, the tension felt discombobulating. Clifford was their sure bet, they could rely on him to deliver, for he had done nothing else only that over the course of his entire career.

Two of the wides in the second half came in quick succession, at a time when the game was wound so tight it was exhausting just watching the drama play out. At 1-11 apiece he hit the most unlikely of miscues and moments later, maddened by what had gone before, he let loose with a Hail Mary effort which also failed to damage the scoreboard. But those kicks damaged Kerry’s psyche and gave energy to Dublin.

If David Clifford clasping his hands around the back of his head in exasperation isn’t a cue to induce panic among Kerry supporters, what is? And yet he refused to shy away, right until the end he kept trying to turn it around, like the leader he is.

“I’m not sure what the premise of the question is,” snapped back Jack O’Connor, acutely aware of what the premise of the question was when asked about Clifford’s contribution.

“David Clifford has been magnificent for us all the year. We were hoping upon hope that we would get him up the steps, himself and Paudie today, after the tough year he’s had, the long year he’s had, but it wasn’t to be.”

The Clifford brothers lost their mother, Ellen, in May. The quiet strength of character they have displayed all year in constantly leading Kerry’s Sam Maguire defence was quite something.

And while the cold stats lay out the wides, David’s influence was still significant in this final – he was involved in the creation of 1-2 of Kerry’s total, producing the one real moment of wizardry all afternoon with his defence-splitting pass for Paul Geaney’s goal.

Clifford took possession of the ball out in the corner where the Cusack Stand meets Hill 16. When he turned, Michael Fitzsimons and Brian Howard had him boxed in. Stephen Cluxton’s goal looked about as vulnerable as an ice-cube in a freezer.

And then Clifford popped a deftly weighted pass along the endline that took out three Dublin players. With one flick of his foot, the Dublin defence melted away.

“I don’t think there is a player that has ever had a year like David Clifford has had since last January when he won the All-Ireland junior here, right through to now,” stated O’Connor, as he continued the defence of his player.

“He’s been a magnificent captain for us, and just a great man.”

And yet it should be acknowledged that Dublin achieved what they set out to do with Clifford. The talk was if Michael Fitzsimons could limit him to six or seven points that would have been a good day’s work. In the end the Fossa man scored 0-3, two from play.

Fitzsimons was helped by Howard and Eoin Murchan and others, but history will recount that in what may ultimately turn out to be the Cuala man’s last intercounty game, he didn’t allow the greatest footballer of them all to bend Dublin to his will.

For O’Connor, back-to-back All-Ireland titles remains out of reach and his disappointment was palpable in the post-match media conference, during which he stood up momentarily and asked for the cameras to be turned off in what was due to be a written press interview.

“Look, it’s never easy lose an All-Ireland final. It is a tough one because I thought there were stages of that game in the second half when we looked like we were, I won’t say in control, but that we were playing within ourselves.

“I just thought the goal was a huge turning point. The last thing you want to give Dublin playing into the Hill is a goal because it just gives them huge energy. It’s like a bolt of electricity goes through the whole ground.”

As the Kerry players trudged down the tunnel, having stood on the pitch for James McCarthy’s speech, their Dublin counterparts bounced up the Hogan Stand steps.

“Dublin still have the know-how that got them six All-Irelands in a row, that DNA is still in the dressingroom,” added O’Connor. “Maybe in the end it was the bit of experience that got them over the line.”

Strains of Thin Lizzy’s The Boys Are Back in Town soundtracked Kerry’s exit off the pitch. Up on the Hill blue flares filled the sky.

Sam was staying in Dublin.

Talk of their demise had been an illusion, perhaps this All-Ireland triumph was the greatest trick the Dubs have ever pulled.